Infinitely Losing My Edge
Yeah, I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
The kids are coming up from behind.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids from Honduras and from Jakarta.
But I was there.
I was there in 1970.
I was there at the first Onyeabor show in Enugu.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge to the kids whose footsteps I hear when they get on the decks.
I'm losing my edge to the internet seekers who can tell me every member of every good group from 1960 to 1970.
I'm losing my edge.
To all the kids in Milan and Tokyo.
I'm losing my edge to the art-school Columbus kids in little jackets and borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered nineties.
I'm losing my edge.
I'm losing my edge.
I can hear the footsteps every night on the decks.
But I was there.
I was there in 1976 at the first Soft Boys practice in a loft in Cambridge.
I was working on the snare sounds with much patience.
I was there when Donald Fagen started up his first band.
I told him, "Don't do it that way. You'll never make a dime."
I was there.
I was the first guy playing DJ Style to the dance kids.
I played it at the Hacienda.
Everybody thought I was crazy.
We all know.
I was there.
I was there.
I've never been wrong.
But I'm losing my edge to better-looking people with better ideas and more talent.
And they're actually really, really nice.
I'm losing my edge.
I heard you have a compilation of every good song ever done by anybody.
Every great song by Duran Duran. All the underground hits.
All T. Rex tracks. I heard you have a vinyl of every Heaven 17 record on German import.
I heard that you have a white label of every seminal dance hit - 1985, '86, '87.
I heard that you have a CD compilation of every good '80s cut and another box set from the '90s.
I hear you're buying a theremin and an arpeggiator and are throwing your macbook out the window because you want to make something real. You want to make a Boredoms record.
I hear that you and your band have sold your linndrum and bought a snare.
I hear that you and your band have sold your snare and bought a linndrum.
I hear everybody that you know is more relevant than everybody that I know.
But have you seen my records?
Lou Reed,
Dark Day,
The Slackers,
DNA,
David McCallum,
Jawbox,
Lebanon Hanover,
Archie Shepp,
Aloha Tigers,
Nas,
Crime,
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo,
Sun Ra,
Reuben Wilson,
Deakin,
Fela Kuti,
Al Stewart,
The Five Americans,
Livin' Joy,
Loose Ends,
Bang On A Can,
Ronan,
AZ,
The Fall,
Gang Starr,
The Stooges,
Thinking Fellers Union Local 282,
Eyeless In Gaza,
Ralphi Rosario,
Fluxion,
Mr. Review,
Rites of Spring,
Graham Central Station,
the Swans,
Jacques Brel,
The American Breed,
Delon & Dalcan,
The Gladiators,
Second Layer,
Excepter,
Cameo,
Colin Newman,
Surgeon,
Pussy Galore,
Curtis Mayfield,
The Buckinghams,
In Retrospect,
Mark Hollis,
Mantronix,
Radio Birdman,
Icehouse,
Heaven 17,
Josef K,
Nils Olav,
Joe Smooth,
Maleditus Sound,
Angry Samoans,
Robert Görl,
Nation of Ulysses,
Donny Hathaway,
The Skatalites,
Fort Wilson Riot,
L. Decosne, L. Decosne, L. Decosne, L. Decosne.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.
You don't know what you really want.